Tongued reducer for large-crowned hats.



P. J. MUHLFELR TONGUED REDUGER FOR LARGE GROWNED HATS. APPLICATION FILEDAPR. 19, 1913.

1,097,255. Patented May 19, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

P. J. MUHLFELD. TONGUED REDUGEB. FOR LARGE GROWNED HATS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1913.

F. J. MUHLFELD.

TONGUED REDUGER FOR LARGE OROWNED HATS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.19, 1913.

1,097,255, Patented May 19, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

wmimm; M 42' UTTED SATES FRANK J. MUHLFELD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TONGUEI) REDUCER FOR LARGE-GBOWNED HATS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 19, 1914.

Application filed April 19, 1913. Serial No. 762,173.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK J. MUHLFELD,

a citizen of the United States, residing at 805 Crot-ona Park north, NewYork, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Tongued Reducers for Large- Crowned Hats,fully described and represented in the following specification and theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The object of the present invention is a hat with improvedself-adjusting headopening.

The invention consists, broadly, in providing the head-opening of thehat with a series of yielding projections or tongues, extending inwardlytoward the center of the headopening and adapted to rest upon the head,and, wholly or in part, to support the weight of the hat, while theirindependence permit-s them to yield separately and thus accommodate thehat to the shape of the head.

The invention may be embodied in hats having the projections or tonguesmade in one piece with the crown and the brim, in which the inwardlyprojecting fold forming the narrow fiat channel between the brim and thebottom of the crown, at their junction, such as shown in Figure 6 ofPatent No. 899,887, heretofore granted to me under date'of September 29,1908, or any similar fold, has been cut with radial slits, producing aseries of tongues each of which is capable of yielding independentlyandconforming to the shape of the head. Or it may be embodied in largecrown hats, known as two-pieced hats; that is, hats whose crown islarger than the head-opening, which crown is usually made of a separatepiece while the brim is made of another piece, permitting a head sizesmaller than the base of the crown, in which case the inwardly projecting portion of the brim may be provided with a series of slits, orcuts, or the base of the crown may be cut and turned inwardly, producinga series of tongues each of which is capable of yielding independentlyand conforming to the shape of the head. Or

it may be embodied in a separate reducer or crown-piece, resembling suchreducer or crown-piece as described in Patent No. 7 69,558, heretoforegranted to me under date of September 6, 1904, or any separatecrownpiece. In this case the outer edge of the reducer may be made toengage the brim or crown of the hat which has a relatively largeheadiopening that it is desired to reduce in size, and the inner edge ofthe reducer is out radially producing a series of tongues each of whichis capable of yielding independently and conforming to the shape of thehead. In the two latter forms the tongues may be turned back to anydegree desired, and even sufliciently to permit their extremity, ifdesired, to be attached to the body of the material from which they arecut. The folding back of the material greatly increases the support ofthe tongue while affecting. its elasticity but slightly. The fold ofsuch tongue, when turned back, becomes rounded, and forms a terminalloop well adapted to rest upon the head or hair. The tongues may beinclined in any manner desired, but in all cases point inwardly towardthe center or toward the apex of a cone, and the annular body, in thecase of the separate head-piece, may be conical, flat I or cylindrical.To preserve the tongues from overstrain and the impairment of theirelasticity, which would reduce their efficiency, a cord or draw-stringadjustable in length may be inserted at or near the loose ends of thetongues, and this cord or drawstring may also be used to limit the sizeof the head-opening. A Hats in which the tongues are cut in the materialof which either the entire hat or the brim or crown of the hat iscomposed, are usually of sufficient stiffness to accomplish the desiredresult; but they may be specially stiffened, if desired, and whereseparate head-pieces are used, they may be made of stiffened felt or ofany other suitable material, and may be covered or not, or a series ofloops made of straw braid or other material, each forming an independenttongue, may be used.

The advantages of this invention are that a particular shape of bat maybe used to fit various shaped heads,-and, also, it permits a dealer tocarry a small stock of sizes and shapes and yet supply his customerswith hats that will lit. The tongues may be drawn in by means of thedraw-string to the required size, or may be pushed out by the head ofthe wearer to the required size, or

by inserting a wire of sufiicient stiffness may be made to withstand theinward pressure of the inclined tongues. The tongues may manufacture ofthe reducer,

arate sections of suflicient length. The tongues may be made stiffenough, in this in vention, to support the weight of the hatindependently of the draw-string, but in all cases in this inventionthey are capable of individual adjustment to the shape and size of thehead, thus differing essentially from any soft continuous fabricsustained by a draw-string or elastic, such as a shirred lining or a rin-shaped soft material.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawing, inwhich Fig. l is edge view of a conical hat-reducer embodying theinvention; Fig. 2 shows the under side of the hatbrim with such reducersecured in the junction of the brim and crown; Fig. 3 is a centralsection of a hat furnished with the reducer of Fig. 1; Fig. t shows ahat in cent al vertical section, with an outside view of a reducerhaving its margin shaped to fit within a cylindrical crown; and F ig. 5is a section like Fig. l showing a reducer with a flat body or marginfitted to the under side of the hatbrim. Fig. 6 shows the under brim ofa hat having the reducer integral therewith; and Fig. 7 is a crosssection of a hat at the center line of Fig. 6.

The various shapes of reducer shown herein are readily made of felt bythe processes employed in hat-manufacture, in which a disk or cone offelt is readily worked into any desired shape and is stiffened in thedesired degree with a solution of shellac or glue.

Fig. 1 shows a reducer formed of a conical blank by cutting the sameradially on lines a extending from the center toward a line of stitchingZ) indicating the inner edge of the marginal body B, from which thetongues a thus project toward the center of the reducer. The ends of thetongues a are folded over and their tips 0 attached to the said body bysuch line of stitching, forming a normally open loop 0 in the end ofeach tongue. Such material is employed, in the that the tongues thusformed are enabled to retain their shape permanently and to support theweight of the hat when placed upon the head, while they are also adaptedto yield in conforming to the shape and size of the head. The margin of.the body is shown in Fig. 3 joined by stitching f to the curved junctionof the crown g and the brim h, to which junction it is tangential, andas the tongues all slope inwardly they are adapted to contact with thehead of the wearer when the hat is pressed down by the hand, and to bebent upwardly and outwardly until they fit the head in a comfortablemanner.

Figs. 6 and 7 show the hat-reducer integral with the hat-brim h and itmay be thus made in one piece with the crown, as shown constructionsshown. The divided sections of the annular fold form tongues with loopsin which the limiting cord may be inserted as described above. Thetongues are thus formed in the hat without the attachment of anyextraneous parts. When the brim and reducer are made integral andseparate from the crown, the construction is the same as that shown inFig. 5, but the marginal body B is of suitable diameter to form thebrim, and the crown is attached thereto at the line of the band hi SeeFig. 7. hen the brim is made in one piece with the reducer, the cuttingof the material radially, and bending the ends of the sectionsbackwardly, forms the looped tongues. The dial tongues are wedgeshapedlike those in Fig. 1, and their extremities are turned backward andattached to the inner side of the brim.

The crown and the tongues are proportioned to fit heads varying within acertain range, the tongues yielding more or less in proportion to thesize of the head upon which the hat is fitted.

Any other material besides stiffened felt, which will not fray, and hasthe requisite stiffness and elasticity may be used.

The loops of the tongues may be oval like those in Figs. 1 to 7 or anyother desired shape.

It is obvious that when the hat is pressed upon the head each loop ortongue can yield independently, so that any one or more which interfereswith a comb would be pushed outwardly, and any group of the tongueswhich was located over a knot or coil of hair would in like manner bepushed upwardly and outwardly more than others, thus conforming thereducer to the size and shape of the head.

To preserve the tongues from overstrain and the consequent impairment oftheir elasticity, which would greatly reduce their efficiency, I preferto extend the draw-string a through the loops at the inner ends of thetongues, bringing the ends of the string out through holes (Z shown inFig. 5, which permits the ends (Z of the string to be tied, as shown inFigs. 2 and 3, in any required adjustment, to hold the tongue in therelation best suited to a head of particular shape and size. The holeswould be close to the loop of the tongue so that the ends of the stringwhen tied may, if desired, be folded backin Fig. 7 or separate from thecrown, and wardly over the edge of the reducer, as

shown in Fig. 3. The hat-reducer thus possesses an adjustment which canbe varied and adapted to suit the preference of the wearer, the stringnot interfering with the accommodating powers of the tongues, butlimit-ing the periphery of the reducer, for which allowance would bemade in tying the string, so that any of the tongues which werecompelled to yield in fitting the head would'have the required feedom todo so. My reducer thus possesses a capacity for self-accommodation tothe head by the independent yielding of the tongues, and when providedwith a draw-string it possesses means to regulate the elasticity of thetongues and also to control the limit of their movement.

The body-portion B is shown of cylindrical shape in Fig. 4, and the bodyB of Fig. 5 is shown flat, thus adapting the reducer for attachment tothe inner side of a round crown, or to the under side of a fiat brim;and such marginal portion may be made of any required form, provided thetongues are so connected therewith as to yield separately in conformingto the head.

For womens hats, the separate form for the tongued-reducer is desirable,as womens hats are made, in conformity with fashion, with greatvariations in the size of the crown, and such separate reducer may bereadily secured within the crown or brim of the hat at or near thehat-band, to support the hat in the desired position upon the head. Bymaking the tongued-reducer separate from the hat, it may be fitted to acrown of any size, the outer margin of the reducer being trimmed, ifnecessary, to fit the desired portion of the crown or brim in any of themodes shown in Figs. 3, A and 5.

From the above description it will be seen that this invention does notconsist merely of a hat-reducer formed by sewing a strip or securing anannulus of suitable material within the head-opening, nor the fasteningof tongues separately to the hatband to project inwardly, as none ofsuch constructions produces the effects obtained by making the tonguesintegral with the substance of the hat, Or integral with a continuousmarginal body which supports each tongue independently of any stitching;but the invention comprises a hat-reducer having a marginal body withintegral elastic tongues projecting inwardly therefrom; the marginalbody and tongues forming a single piece which may be secured to thehat-brim or crown with very little labor. It is also obvious that such areducer may be an integral part of a hat-brim to which a crown isattached by stitching, or integral with both brim and crown by formingthe band of the hat with an inwardly projecting fold which can bedivided into radial sections to form the tongues. In each of theseconstructions the tongues have an integral connection with a continuousannular support, and are thus adapted to retain their resilience muchbetter than if they were formed separately and secured separately withinthe hat.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention what is claimed hereinis:

1. The combination, with a hat having a crown larger than the head, of ahat-reducer having a continuous marginal body attached to the hat aroundthe head-opening, and having a series of inwardly projecting integraltongues adapted to yield separately when tted to the head.

2. The combination, with a hat having a crown larger than the head, of ahat-reducer of elastic material having a continuous marginal bodyattached to the hat around the head-opening and having a series ofinwardly projecting integral tongues with their ends reflexed andsecured to the material from which they are cut, and cord extendedthrough the loops of the tongues to hold them within the desired limit,with its ends projecting to be tied together in various adjustments.

3. A hat made of felt and having an inwardly projecting fold at the banddivided into sections forming looped tongues adapted to yieldinglysupport the hat upon the head.

A. A hat-reducer having a continuous marginal body for attachment to thehat and a series of tongues projected inwardly from the margin andadapted to support the hat upon the head and to yield independently foraccommodating heads of various sizes and shapes.

5. A hat-reducer of elastic continuous material having a marginal bodyfor attachment to the hat and a series of inwardly projecting integraltongues with their ends reflexed and secured to the body, and adjustablemeans to control the yielding of the tongue.

6. A hat having a series of tongues projected from the hat-band into theheadopening, such tongues being formed with loops having their lowersides integral with the brim of the hat.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

FRANK J. MUHLFELD. Witnesses:

E. J. MACCREADY, FRANCIS PARKMAN.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

